'The streak' alive and well at The Hill: Bernie Reinhardt revs for 378th straight start

Sturgeon Bay’s Bernie Reinhardt, shown with daughters Morgan, center, and Emma, will wheel this No. 11 sportmod in action at The Hill in Sturgeon Bay when the track opens May 18. Reinhardt will keep his streak of not missing a race since 1993. He’s made 377 consecutive shows at the track at John Miles Park.(Photo: Courtesy of Reinhardt Racing)

When Thunderhill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay reopened in 1993 after being closed for several seasons, Sturgeon Bay’s Bernie Reinhardt was there to race in that milestone event.

Fast forward to 2018. Twenty-five years later the track has changed names, closed for one year in 2016 and seen several promoters operate the circle-shaped, third-mile, clay track at John Miles Park. But only Reinhardt can claim to have made all 377 stock car racing events held there without missing one night.

It’s a streak almost unheard of even in the weekly short track racing circles. And when the track now calling itself The Hill swings its gates open Friday night to signal the beginning of the 2018 racing season, Reinhardt will put night No. 378 in the books to keep the streak alive.

Funny thing is, Reinhardt had no real clue that “the streak” even existed until track announcer Tom Wagner brought it up once.

“Truthfully it never really dawned on me until Tom (Wagner) started digging into it and brought it up to me a few years ago,” Reinhardt said. “So after a while the family started really supporting me and we all made sure I never missed a night of racing,” Reinhardt said.

What has helped Reinhardt keep “the streak” alive at The Hill is the fact that the track runs an abbreviated schedule that utilizes several nights. For the past three decades, the track raced primarily on Saturday nights. Like 2017, though, the schedule will include nights when neighboring tracks are off. Mostly Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights are used, along with a Thursday race during the Door County Fair.

“I’m not gonna lie — that abbreviated schedule I really enjoy,” Reinhardt said. “We camp a lot on weekends so for us, it’s all good. There are some Friday nights on this year’s schedule for The Hill and I really think that is going to help them out this year.”

Reinhardt’s brother-in-law Todd Dart has been a godsend in terms of keeping Reinhardt’s streak alive. Himself a modified racer, "Felix" got Reinhardt’s sportmod back into tip-top shape by wrenching on it, helping to keep Reinhardt’s streak alive.

“Felix and his boys redid that whole car, and he was a huge help a year ago in keeping me up and running,” Reinhardt said.

Last season, Reinhardt didn’t find victory lane for a feature race but remained competitive, despite having a much older race car and a tired, old motor with many nights on it.

“It’s tough to remain competitive but you’ve got to remember I paid $2,500 to James Tebon years ago for the sportmod I’ve got,” Reinhardt said. “It’s a 2008 chassis. I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of that car. The crate motor I’ve got has 130 nights on it. The only thing I’ve done to it is change two sets of valve springs. It’s tough to race with some of these guys who will spend $15,000 to $20,000 to go sportmod racing. If I can hang with them with my old car, I’m happy with that.”

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. When the Sturgeon Bay oval sat idle in 2016, it just wasn’t the same for Reinhardt. He camped a little bit more often than he had and still managed to race a bit.

“I went racing at Luxemburg on Friday nights more than I used to,” Reinhardt said. “I went there six times and got rained out three more times. It was different not going to a track that is basically 2 miles from my house. It really made me I guess appreciate the track and what I have in my own backyard.”

Over the years it didn’t matter if the track was called Door County Speedway or Thunderhill Raceway. Reinhardt couldn’t have cared less if Rick Ledvina and Carolyn Tordeaur were running the track, or Tom Stark and Todd Jensen, or Bryan “Woody” Wodack. Reinhardt was not going to miss a race, and he doesn’t intend to.

“My wife Steph and daughters Morgan and Emma are in my corner 100 percent,” Reinhardt said. “They get it and we work out schedules around the racing schedule at The Hill.”

"When the track didn't run in '16, there were probably more than just a few of us here, that at some point, thought of Bernie and the streak,” said track historian and announcer Tom Wagner. “You didn't want to see the track close, and you really didn't want to see the streak die that way either. After all of these years, Bernie, his team and his family are simply part of the core of racing in Sturgeon Bay.

"As a fan, it's easy to take for granted the level of commitment necessary to accomplish what Bernie has done. Other tracks in the area have guys that might not match Bernie's streak, but share that commitment. Whenever we cruise the pits, we should always thank a few of them for keeping the racing as strong as it is in the area.

"If Bernie does ever decide to hang it up at some point, I hope he gives us a heads-up. That last race — that will be one heck of a night!"

Joe Verdegan is a freelance columnist and motorsports author who’s penned three books on local racing history, including “Life In The Past Lane — The Next Generation.” You can reach him at jverdegan2@gmail.com.

Local news and notes

Sturgeon Bay preview: The season-opening race will take place Friday at John Miles Park in Sturgeon Bay. The defending champions in each class are Luxemburg’s Craig Dorner and Sturgeon Bay’s Cody Raas (sportmod), Algoma’s Dave “The Bulldozer” Bouche (stock car), Luxemburg’s Dave “The Hammer” DeGrave (street stock) and Oneida’s D.J. Jorgenson (baby bomber). The opener at The Hill also will see the return of Sturgeon Bay veteran George Henkel who’s been retired from racing for several seasons. Henkel will race “for fun” in 2018 in a sportmod. Racing gets underway at 7 p.m.

141 Lucas Oils race: $12,000 awaits the winner of the Lucas Oils late model special Friday at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek. Among the locals expected to tangle with the touring professionals are Green Bay native Jared Siefert, Bonduel’s Nick Anvelink and Appleton’s Paul Parker. Joining the Lucas Oils late models will be street stocks and sportmods. Racing gets underway at 7 p.m. There will be no racing Saturday night at 141.

Plymouth leftovers: Siefert placed sixth in the season-opening late model race at Plymouth Dirt Track on May 5. The late model feature was won by Cleveland’s Justin Schmidt. Manitowoc’s Cody Schroeder won the B mod feature.

TUNDRA notebook: Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna will host its season-opening race at the oval May 12 with the TUNDRA super late models. A field close to 40 super late models is on tap — the latest entrants include third-generation Michigan driver Robby Iverson of Escanaba. In the late model division Meyerhofer will be joined by most of the weekly Thursday night competitors, including defending WIR late model champion Travis Rodewald of Manitowoc, Markesan’s Jesse Bernhagen, Bryan Monday of Appleton, Kaukauna’s Scott Baker and Norway, Michigan’s Joey Pontbriand. Time trials begin at 5:45 p.m. with racing getting underway at 7 p.m.

Marshfield leftovers: WIR Thursday night regular Chad Butz of Green Bay scored fast time and finished fourth in the Yellow River Racing Series on May 5 at Marshfield Motor Speedway. Freedom’s Brent Strelka placed second and Kaukauna’s Jesse Oudenhoven finished fifth. The race was won by Jim Sauter Jr. of Tomah.

Seymour opener: After being delayed for one week, Outagamie Speedway in Seymour is scheduled to host its first race at 6 p.m. May 13. The racing surface received a new surface of clay during the offseason along with a new scoreboard, acquired from the Oshkosh Speedzone, which has closed. The track’s defending champions include Seymour’s Brian Mullen (IMCA modified), Appleton’s Chas Van Ooyen (IMCA stock car), Brillion’s Travis Hansen (IMCA sportmod), Freedom’s Paul Ambrosius (street stock) and Chilton’s Mitch Meier (sport compacts). Outagamie Speedway is located at the Outagamie County Fairgrounds in Seymour. All mothers in attendance will receive $1 off adult admission in honor of Mother’s Day.

Gravity Park notebook: Green Bay’s John Heinz won the stock car division A main at the first race at Gravity Park USA in Chilton on May 5. The track’s races were rained out Friday night and the promoters scheduled an impromptu rain date on Saturday night. Normal weekly racing resumes Friday nights at 7 p.m.